First part of Ukraine-Russia prisoners of war exchange completed, Zelenskyy says

Ukraine and Russia agreed to swap 1,000 prisoners of war each during face-to-face talks in Istanbul on 16 May.

The first part of a prisoner exchange with Russia agreed in Istanbul last week has been completed, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Friday."We are bringing our people home. The first part of the 1,000-for-1,000 exchange agreement has been implemented. Today we have 390 people. We expect the exchange to continue on Saturday and Sunday," he said.Ukraine and Russia agreed to swap 1,000 prisoners of war each during face-to-face talks in Istanbul last Friday — the first time the two sides had met in person since the early weeks following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in early 2022. "I am grateful to everyone who is helping, who is working 24/7 to ensure that Ukrainians return home. It is very important to return all those who are in captivity. We are checking every name and information about each person," Zelenskyy added.Earlier on Friday, US President Donald Trump was the first to announce the exchange in a post on Truth Social, but claimed it had been completed."A major prisoners swap was just completed between Russia and Ukraine," Trump wrote. “Congratulations to both sides on this negotiation. This could lead to something big," he added.However, a Ukrainian source told the Kyiv Independent daily that Trump's comments were innacurate and that the exchange remained ongoing.No diplomatic breakthroughThe highly anticipated talks in Turkey last week lasted only two hours and did not bring a meaningful breakthrough in international diplomatic efforts to stop Russia's all-out war or bring on a ceasefire.After talks concluded, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan called the prisoner swap a "confidence-building measure" and said the parties had agreed in principle to meet again.But Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that no agreement has yet been reached on the venue for the next round of talks as diplomatic manoeuvring continues.European leaders have accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of dragging his feet in peace efforts while he tries to press on with a battlefield initiative and capture more Ukrainian land.The Istanbul meeting revealed that both sides clearly remained far apart on key conditions.One such condition for Ukraine, backed by its Western allies, is a temporary ceasefire as a first step toward a peaceful settlement.The Kremlin has pushed back on a temporary halt to hostilities, and Putin has said any such truce must come with a freeze on Western arms supplies to Ukraine and an end to Ukraine’s mobilisation drive.A senior Ukrainian official said that in Istanbul, Russia had introduced new, "unacceptable demands" to withdraw Ukrainian forces from significant parts of Ukrainian land.Putin has long demanded that Ukraine withdraw its troops from the four regions that Russia unilaterally annexed in September 2022 but never fully occupied as a key condition for a peace deal. The annexation has been widely condemned as illegal. Zelenskyy has warned that if Russia continues to reject a ceasefire and make "unrealistic demands," it will signal deliberate efforts to prolong the war, a move that should bring tougher international sanctions.